Maxi Relishing 'Challenging Period'

North End goalkeeper Chris Maxwell is relishing playing against some of the top teams in the division this month.

The Lilywhites began the month with victory over Aston Villa, a game where Maxwell made sure of a cleansheet late in the game by denying the visitors from the penalty spot.

After a draw at Brighton on Saturday, it's back to Deepdale to face high-flying Huddersfield Town on Wednesday night, and Maxi has confidence in the squad going into the next batch of fixtures.

"It's a fantastic period for us, it will be a challenging period for us but one we are all relishing and looking forward to and it's one we feel we can do well in.

On the Huddersfield clash, he continued: "They are a very different team in terms of the teams in the Championship, they are very much a possession based team but I feel that will suit us.

"It will be difficult for them to come and do that at Deepdale, it would brave of them to do it but we will be right up for it."

With such a hectic few weeks ahead, the whole squad will likely need to be utilised by the manager and Maxwell has been impressed by the attitude and quality of the squad since joining the club.

The 26-year-old has already shown this season the importance of taking your chance when it comes. After a terrific performance against Premier League side Bournemouth in the EFL Cup, Maxwell has retained his place in goal to help PNE to a run of five games unbeaten.

Speaking of the competition within the group and the options available to the manager, the former Fleetwood Town man continued: "The standard and the attitude of the players here is first class, and that's shown in recent weeks with our performances so whoever the manager picks, everyone will be right behind it and it will be a team to go and win the game.

"It showed at the weekend with Simon [Makienok] , Prings [Ben Pringle] and Gally [Paul Gallagher] coming on and performing like they did was superb and they pushed us over the line to get the point.

"Everybody in the team, everybody in the squad and everybody at the club is vitally important to the cause."

Hear more from Chris Maxwell now on PNE PlayerHD by clicking on the video below.